Rally France – Julien Maurin wins at Le Touquet

If the World Cup and the WRC-2 will be Julien Maurin's priority in 2014, the 2013 French champion has proven that he is still the benchmark on French roads. By imposing itself on rally du Touquet (his 5th consecutive victory counting the three successes at the end of last season), the driver of the Ford Fiesta RS WRC is full of confidence before the Rally of Portugal which will be contested from April 3 to 6.

Leader from the start of the event, Maurin had to battle hard with Jean-Marie Cuoq (Citroën C4 WRC) yesterday during the first stage. The duel was very close and promised a lot because behind Quentin Gilbert (C4 WRC) saw his hopes dashed from the start after a puncture in SS2 and 40″ lost. But at the end of the stage, Cuoq in turn suffered two punctures in SS7 and had to give up. Maurin led the way ahead of Gilbert and Pierre Roché (Mini JCW WRC). Eric Brunson, three-time winner on the Nordic roads, followed at a good distance in his new Ford Fiesta RS WRC, which he was discovering.

Today for the second stage, we hoped to see Gilbert raise his passive by 31″. But Julien Maurin will never give the Citroën driver the opportunity to challenge him for victory. From the first SS this Saturday, the French champion distanced Gilbert by 20″3 and widened a definitive gap. Gilbert will have one last heat in SS13 but will retain his 2nd place at the finish. Pierre Roché completes the podium at more than 2'47 and does the right thing in the championship standings since Maurin and Gilbert will not do the entire season. Eric Brunson, who was thought to be firmly in 4th place, did not reach the finish after his retirement in SS12. Lionel Baud (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) and Laurent Bayard (Toyota Corolla WRC) complete the top 5 of this rally.

In the Michelin Trophy, we were obviously waiting for the match between the Porsche 911 of Gilles Nantet and Patrick Rouillard, but in the end it was the FORd Fiesta R5 of Jean-Charles Beaubelique which won. This was the first time that a car meeting R5 regulations was driven in France. Beaubelique ranks 7th overall. Manu Guigou, on his Megane RS, won group N and finished 16th overall despite his headlight problems in SS7 and some engine problems at the end of the rally.

In the 208 Rally Cup, Stéphane Lefebvre won ahead of Charles Martin, while in the Opel Adam Cup, Jean-René Perry won ahead of Florian Bernardi.

Final classification Rallye du Touquet – Pas-de-Calais:

1. MAURIN Julien (Ford Fiesta WRC)
2. GILBERT Quentin (Citroën C4 WRC) at 1’13″3
3. ROCHE Pierre (Mini John Cooper Works) at 3’31″6
4. BAUD Lionel (Ford Fiesta WRC) at 6’59″6
5. BAYARD Laurent (Toyota Corolla WRC) at 7’08″2
6. BEAUBELIQUE Jean-Charles (Ford Fiesta R5) at 8’01″3
7. SIMPSON Neil (Skoda Fabia S2000) at 9'04″9
8. LEFEBVRE Stéphane (Peugeot 208) at 9'13″0 (Winner 208 Rally Cup)
9. ROUILLARD Patrick (Porsche 997 Cup) at 9’23″2
10. NANTET Gilles (Porsche 997 GT2) at 9’34″2
...
16. GUIGOU Manu (Renault Megane RS) at 11'01″04 (Winner Group N)
...
32. PERRY Jean-René (Opel Adam Cup - at 19'30″5 (Opel Adam Cup winner)